Heathrow International Airport

Heathrow International Airport is one of the largest and busiest
airports in the world and is situated only about sixty miles from
Wessex. Planes come and go to every part of the globe. Most airlines fly
into Heathrow. Access by road and rail is frequent.

Aircraft coming into Heathrow.

Not quite as bad as it looks!

Photograph by Arpingstone in the public domain.

The airport is located about fourteen miles west of London. The runways have an east/west orientation and so flying into Heathrow International Airport the planes fly over London itself.
Look down you may see some famous places as you descend. Makes for some interesting viewing from the ground!

Of course being such a busy airport Heathrow International Airport is also a large one and there are five terminals. It has to be to cater for 67,000,000 people a year! Very important to know which terminal your aircraft is using! Ask your travel agent. All the terminals at Heathrow have excellent facilities and staff are happy to help. Terminal information can be found here.

If you have a disability and require help ask when you buy your ticket so arrangements can be made for your comfort. Those with special diets should also make arrangements ahead of time.

Hotel Accommodation near Heathrow International Airport

There are many hotels in the close vicinity of Heathrow Airport for
those that need accommodation before moving on, or to make it easier to
catch that early flight.... Booking is suggested when you can.

There are links to accommodation at the top of the right hand column on this page. They are:

Wessex Hotels, shows all London Hotels as some folk will want to move
on to London. To get the Heathrow Hotels click on 'View all London
Hotels' at the bottom of the search box. Naturally they will all show
up. Look down the left column and click on Heathrow Hotels.

Cottages There are also links at the top of the right hand column to Cottages and self catering accommodation .

Getting out of Heathrow International Airport

itself and getting to south west England is not a problem. Trains run
frequently, there is good access by road, hire cars are available and
there are plenty of coaches.

Heathrow Express takes only 15 minutes to get to London and runs every 15 minutes. A useful service and it operates nearly 24 hours a day. Tickets can be bought on the internet before you leave.

Heathrow Connect has a longer interval between trains at 30 minutes, but even this stopping train only takes 26 minutes. The connect service also operates nearly 24 hours a day.

Both services run from Heathrow Central for passengers from Terminals 1 and 3 and Heathrow Terminal 5. Passengers coming in to Terninal 4 can get a free transfer to and from Heathrow Central by travelling on the Heathrow Connect Shuttle.

London Underground

Budget minded passengers might prefer to use the London Underground. Not too much longer as it takes under an hour to get to London on the Piccadilly line. Trains run at intervals of ten minutes at the most. Three Underground stations service the airport, Terminals 1 and 3 have one, and Terminals 4 and 5 have one apiece.

Fares are cheaper than the Heathrow Express and Connect services. Also the Underground runs to other mainline stations besides Paddington.

Coaches

Rail/Air Coaches

These can be useful if you do not want to travel into London. They are a service of buses and coaches connecting Heathrow International Airport with trains at Feltham, Watford, Woking and Reading.

National Express

National Express Coach in a country lane near Chineham on its way to Portsmouth also in Hampshire

Britain's premier luxury coach company runs services from major airports including Heathrow International Airport. There are inter airport services as well as services to all parts of the country including Wessex. Probably not many places they do not go to!

Road Access

M25 near Heathrow

Photograph by Arpingstone in the public domain.

The M25 is a handy road as it circles London. Be warned it can be very congested.

sometimes referred to as the Great West Road, runs to Bristol.

An ancient road, it used to be called the Great South West Road and runs all the way to Lands End in Cornwall. In consequence it passes through the heart of Wessex, Hampshire,Dorset and Devon.

Useful Information

Want a cute car? Large car? Small car? Whatever you need you will find it here. You will probably find your favourite car hire firm here and Car Rentals do not add a penny to their price for looking all over for you!

Why not travel by Coach

If you do decide the leave the car at home and help the environment too, why not go National Express. They run coaches all over the country. Some pretty good fares too.

Just imagine - sit back and relax, no hassling with the traffic!!!

Do you know that you can book on your mobile phone and they will send the ticket as a text!!!!